Box Score
The Lady Bruins suffered another tough road loss on Thursday night as the team couldn't slow the North Greenville University Crusaders in an 85-53 loss. "We are better for having played this game," Bruins Coach Mike LeViere said. "We had a really rough second quarter and could have folded and called it a night. Instead, this team showed a lot of heart and tried to make a comeback in the game."
The Bruins entered the game with a 3-3 record, having dropped a road game to Brevard College on Tuesday night. In the opening minutes of the game, the Crusaders rode the energy of their hometown fans as they jumped out to an early 9-3 lead. The Bruins responded with back to back three point shots from Sha'Ron Brunson and Hannah Tompkins as they fought back to tie the game. Both teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, but NGU used a 16-3 run to close out the opening quarter with a 27-16 lead.
In the second quarter, the Crusaders stormed out of the gate with a 15-0 run to take a large lead. The Bruins tried to counter, but their offense went cold as the team struggled for open looks and couldn't string together stops defensively. As the quarter wore on, the Crusaders continued to pour it on as they went into the half up 58-21.
"We took to long to adjust to their defensive pressure and to adjust to what the officials allowed," Coach LeViere said.
In the second half, the Bruins came out trying to chip away at the Crusaders lead. Still, the team wasn't able to go on a sustained run as NGU matched the Bruins buckets to keep a sizeable lead. As the buzzer signaled the end of the quarter, the Bruins had slimmed the lead slightly as they trailed 66-37.
Sydney Bedsaul got the Bruins off and running in the 4th quarter as she knocked down a three which sparked a run for the Bruins offense. But the deficit was too much to overcome as the Bruins closed out the quarter strong but still lost 85-53.
Hannah Tompkins led the Bruins with 18 points while Brianna Delaney scored 12 to go along with 9 rebounds. Turnovers hurt the Bruins tonight as the team committed 27 throughout the game. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 3-4 on the season. Next up, the team will welcome Toccoa Falls College on Monday night.
